With crime data now available for D.C.'s first full year (2009) without a handgun ban in place, the Heller decision was on 6/27/08 and I believe it was a 30 day period before it took effect. We can see how "allowing" people the right to excercise their right to bear arms has impacted the crime rates.
Homicides dropped from 186 in '08 to 143 in '09, a decrease of nearly 25% and the lowest number since 1964. With the first quarter of '10 almost finished D.C. currently has 18 homicides so far this year compared to 30 at the same point in '09, another drop of 40%. Firearm recoveries also went down by 180 from '08 to '09 and were typical of the previous 4 years average. So far this year they are on pace to have the lowest numbers since the early in the decade. Instead of the predicted explosion in homicides and guns available for criminal use, the opposite is occuring in both cases.
Look at the statistics yourself. Transpose the first two commas into periods, sorry I am a noob and can't post links.
//mpdc,dc,gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1239,q,561242,mpdcNav_GID,1523,mpdcNav,%7C.asp]Metropolitan Police Department: Data at a Glance[/url]
If you recall the anti-gun people made a number of comments stating that crime and particularly murder would skyrocket. They predicted a huge influx of guns that would return us to the days of the wild west. They ridiculed the argument that armed citizens deter crime (despite every statistic to the contrary) and claimed legally owned weapons would be stolen and used in crimes. A few comments that amused me.
"introducing more handguns into the District will mean more handgun violence," - Adrian Fenty the mayor of D.C.
"a very frightening decision" and asked, "Does this lead to everyone having a gun in our society?" Richard Daley the Mayor of Chicago, who unbelievably still has a handgun ban in his city.
"will cost innocent lives, cause immeasurable pain and suffering and turn America into a more dangerous country [and] diminish our standing in the world," The New York Times
As has been proven time and time again guns in the hands of honest people are a good thing. Criminals have stated time and again in studies and on camera that their biggest fear is an armed victim and they don't care about gun restrictions, they aren't lying, all you have to do is listen to them.
The overall crime statistics for 2009 aren't available yet but I will be curious to see them, I guarantee overall crime has gone down as well. The Heller decision has saved lives and is one of the few examples of government actually working and doing the right thing in who knows how long. Sadly though you will never see these statistics in the mainstream media, someone has to do something horrific for anyone to do a gun story.
Homicides dropped from 186 in '08 to 143 in '09, a decrease of nearly 25% and the lowest number since 1964. With the first quarter of '10 almost finished D.C. currently has 18 homicides so far this year compared to 30 at the same point in '09, another drop of 40%. Firearm recoveries also went down by 180 from '08 to '09 and were typical of the previous 4 years average. So far this year they are on pace to have the lowest numbers since the early in the decade. Instead of the predicted explosion in homicides and guns available for criminal use, the opposite is occuring in both cases.
Look at the statistics yourself. Transpose the first two commas into periods, sorry I am a noob and can't post links.
//mpdc,dc,gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1239,q,561242,mpdcNav_GID,1523,mpdcNav,%7C.asp]Metropolitan Police Department: Data at a Glance[/url]
If you recall the anti-gun people made a number of comments stating that crime and particularly murder would skyrocket. They predicted a huge influx of guns that would return us to the days of the wild west. They ridiculed the argument that armed citizens deter crime (despite every statistic to the contrary) and claimed legally owned weapons would be stolen and used in crimes. A few comments that amused me.
"introducing more handguns into the District will mean more handgun violence," - Adrian Fenty the mayor of D.C.
"a very frightening decision" and asked, "Does this lead to everyone having a gun in our society?" Richard Daley the Mayor of Chicago, who unbelievably still has a handgun ban in his city.
"will cost innocent lives, cause immeasurable pain and suffering and turn America into a more dangerous country [and] diminish our standing in the world," The New York Times
As has been proven time and time again guns in the hands of honest people are a good thing. Criminals have stated time and again in studies and on camera that their biggest fear is an armed victim and they don't care about gun restrictions, they aren't lying, all you have to do is listen to them.
The overall crime statistics for 2009 aren't available yet but I will be curious to see them, I guarantee overall crime has gone down as well. The Heller decision has saved lives and is one of the few examples of government actually working and doing the right thing in who knows how long. Sadly though you will never see these statistics in the mainstream media, someone has to do something horrific for anyone to do a gun story.
